Atlanta progressive metallers Mastodon will release their new upcoming album, The Hunter, this October through Reprise Records. You can find the album cover artwork below.

The artwork was created by AJ Fosik, a wood carver who is also responsible for the backdrop the band uses live. This marks the first time Mastodon has not used acclaimed artist Paul Romano, who was responsible for all of the group's previous artwork.

Mastodon recently revealed more song titles for The Hunter. Tracks to appear on the band's follow-up to 2009's Crack The Skye include: "The Hunter: All The Heavy Lifting", "Dry Bone Valley", "Blasteroids", "The Octopus Has No Friends", "Stargasm", and "Curl Of The Burl".

Anette Olzon, vocalist of Finnish symphonic metallers Nightwish, has posted two demo songs online. You can check out the solo material, called "Floating" and "Invincible", on her Myspace profile.

Here's what she had to say abou it: "Ok, so the surprise I teased you with is that I have created my own Myspace page for some songs from my demo I did in 2009. The songs are not mixed or produced, just recorded in the moment and therefore are very rough songs. But I still want you to hear them since I am proud of them and I think they show another part of me than you hear in Nightwish.

The first song is called "Floating" and I call it the "Cirkus"song. It gives me a happy feeling and the vibe in it is happy and joyful. The second song is a song I wrote for my son and it´s very special to me therefore...

Irish rockers The Answer will release their latest studio album in September 2011 via Spinefarm Records/Universal.

Titled Revival and produced by the Grammy-nominated Chris "Frenchie" Smith, with mixing handled by Chris Sheldon, this is the third studio album released by the Downpatrick quartet since first coming together a decade ago.

Vocalist Cormac Neeson comments: "The studio we used was on a ranch in the middle of a pecan orchard near El Paso, next to the Mexican border - a wonderful place for creating music, with that whole Wild West vibe, and 'Frenchie' was always encouraging us to dream that bit bigger and rock that bit harder. We had a lot of fun, and the experience was a positive one from start to finish..."

"Clawmaster", a brand-new track from Finnish atmospheric sludge metallers Ghost Brigade can be streamed in the YouTube clip below.

"Clawmaster" comes off the band's upcoming new album, entitled Until Fear No Longer Defines Us, which will be released on August 19th in Europe and on August 23rd in North America through Season Of Mist. More album details were previously reported over here.

Swedish death metal pioneers Grave have inked a worldwide deal with German label Century Media Records. Grave issued its debut album, Into The Grave, 20 years ago (August 1991) as the tenth-ever release from CMR.

Jens Peuter, head of A&R CM Europe, comments: "First time I saw Grave was in May 1992 when my friend Robert Kampf (founder of Century Media) asked me if I wanted to get tattooed by Vinny Daze (R.I.P.) from Demolition Hammer, who was in town with Massacre and Grave. I went to the show with the intention to get my first tattoo but was blown away by Grave's pure death metal blast and ended up being way too drunk to still get inked later that night. I never tried to get tattooed again, but I stuck to Gravve and I'm more than glad to welcome back Ola and his 'new' guys to Century Media."

Frontiers Records is pleased to announce the release of Jorn's ultimate live experience Live In Black a 2CD/DVD recorded focusing on his original repertoire recorded live at the Sweden Rock Festival 2010 on August 23rd 2011 in North America and August 26th in Europe.

2010 was a significant year in Jorn's career. Besides releasing a tribute album to his hero Ronnie James Dio, Jorn was invited to perform, together with Glenn Hughes, with Heaven And Hell on their final concert, at the High Voltage Festival in Victoria Park, London.

Just a few weeks earlier Jorn appeared at the Sweden Rock Festival, in Sölvesborg and blew the crowd of more than 25,000 fans away. "The special thing with Live In Black is that it captures a very rough, uncut and spontaneous moment in the bands history" tells Jorn Lande. "It was a hectic day with many interviews and several TV appearances and I also had to do a short speech and statement regarding the great Ronnie James Dio's untimely passing a few weeks earlier. The whole festival became in the spirit of Ronnie, and it was very moving to see everyone there, including the artists honoring his memory" recalls the Norwegian singer.

Bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Pestilence, ex-Mayan) has left German progressive death metallers Obscura.

In a statement released to Blabbermouth, Thesseling explained: "Due to repetitive conflicting schedules with job related obligations I have decided to depart Obscura. Beside the limited availability that kept me away from touring during the last months, I feel like taking new directions in my musical development.

Looking back, the cooperation with Obscura has been positive and successful. However, it's time to move on and find new challenges and opportunities for my musical career.

I would like to thank all the fans who supported us and wish Obscura all the best with their future work."

Anathema will release another reworked compilation album, entitled Falling Deeper, on September 5th.

The band released the following statement: "Falling Deeper continues where Hindsight left off. The album features brand new arrangements of songs and haunting melodies from our earliest days. It's a mesmerizing blend of the orchestral - majestic and at times ethereal - with beautiful vocal arrangements and our unique 'feedback' lead guitars, all centred around a grand piano and a huge rhythm section. All the layers work together to convey the haunting internal landscapes Anathema have become renowned for.

This is an album which we hope will excite old and new Anathema fans equally. A fresh musical and lyrical approach has transformed songs such as "Crestfallen", "Kingdom" and "Sunset Of Age". This record reveals how, even from the very start, the band wrote melodies which would always have a universal magic and emotional impact.

After nine years and three albums guitarist Johannes "Axeman" Losbäck has parted ways with Swedish heavy metal band Wolf.

Axeman states: "It's with a heavy (Metal) heart that I announce that I'm stepping down from my duty's in the second best band in the world; Wolf. It was a very tough and difficult decision to make since I love Wolf & Heavy Metal but I simply can't give Wolf 666% at this point. It's not fair to the fans, the boys or me to not give it all and I need to step down. The downward spiral of the musicbizzniss which makes bands and musicians work harder & harder and trying to survive has taken its toll on me. I'd like to thank all, and I mean all fans for the ride of the past 9 years. I am a fan of yours so I love you all to death! Also thanx to Wolf members past & present for sharing the life and giving me the opportunity to express myself thru music. I am deeply proud and honored to have made music with you! I started my relationship with Wolf as a fan and now I get to end it as a fan. Thank you all, 666 times over & over. You will hear from me again! Oh...and Celtic Frost rules!"

Secretly Sabina Classen and her Holy Moses men have logged into the Absurd studio in Hamburg, to start the recordings for the 30th Years anniversary - In The Power of Now double album.

The new drummer Gerd Lücking (Poison Dwarf, ex-Rebellion) currently takes care of the drum tracks on the new record. The album will have new versions of 20 of the most important songs of the 30 years of Holy Moses history. Atomic Steiff had to give up the drummer sit due to job changes.

Gerd about joining Holy Moses: "As an old Moses fan, it is naturally a honor for me to do the drumming for this pioneer thrash metal band! The recordings are being really powerful and we blow away all the material live!"

Echoes Of The Fallen, the long awaited second full-length from UK metalcore act Anterior will be released later this summer.

The 10-track long player was recorded at Grindstone Studios through 2011 with Scott Atkins producing. The album will be released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on August 26th, in the rest of Europe on August 29th and North America on September 13th via Metal Blade Records.

Comments frontman Leon Kemp: "That's right! The new album is finally here and we cannot wait for you guys to hear it! We've been hard at it for the past few months with producer Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios and I must say the tracks are sounding massive. I feel we've really found our sound on this album. It's been quite a while since our last release and we've matured a lot as a band, especially with the addition of some new members.

"Unchallenged Hate", Dying Fetus' take on the Napalm Death classic, has been made available for streaming over at Metal Hammer.

"Unchallenged Hate" comes off the band's upcoming 20th anniversary cover EP, entitled History Repeats..., which will be released on July 19th through FYE stores and Relapse mailorder exclusively. More album details were previously reported over here.

Ex Deo are still working on the follow-up to the debut album Romulus, scheduled for a release somewhere in 2012. The band will enter the studio later this year.

According to a press release, the second opus entitled Caligula is set to feature the most intense "epic metal soundtrack" to come out in recent history.

Mainman Maurizio Iacono (also known from Kataklysm) added: "The album will once again have the honor of some elite guest appearances. The band promises an album that will shake the metal scene!"

Artwork and layout for Caligula will be handled by classic artist Seth (Septicflesh). Some song titles include "I, Caligula", "Burned to Serve the Nocturnal Light", "In War & Conquest/Roma Caput Mundi" and "Teutoburg (The Ambush of Varus) - Part 1".